Privacy policy

Early Read Club is run by [Legal name], [Address]. For anything about your data, email hello@earlyreadclub.com.

For most of what this policy covers, we are the controller: we decide how and why the data is used. The exception is each author's own mailing list, explained under Authors' mailing lists.

We email authors about their account and campaigns: sign-in links and codes, the warning 7 days before an ebook is deleted, and trial reminders. These are part of the service, not marketing.

What the author sees. The author you apply to sees your name, email address, social handle, application status, where you came from, the review links you share and whether you reviewed their earlier books. Authors never see readers who didn't apply to them, or anyone on our newsletter who hasn't.

Reviews. We record only whether and when you shared a review link. We never collect star ratings and never sort, filter or treat readers differently based on what a review says.

Emails. Readers get emails about the copies they asked for: confirmation, approval with the download link, waitlist news, review reminders, a new link if you ask for one, and invitations from authors whose books you reviewed before. Receiving a book never signs you up for marketing: the mailing-list and newsletter boxes are separate and unticked. Every email has links to manage your preferences or delete your data.

Readers don't have accounts or passwords. Your private link is stored as a one-way hash plus an encrypted copy, so a leaked database can't be used to open it.

The Early Read Club newsletter (readers)

If you tick the box when applying, or join from a waitlist or reader page, we store your email address, the genres you're interested in and when you joined, so we can invite you to early copies from other authors in those genres. You're only added once you confirm from the email we send. Lawful basis: consent. Authors can't see this list.

Launch tips for authors (the blog)

If you sign up on our blog, we store your email address, where you signed up and when, with a record of the wording you agreed to. This list is kept apart from readers, and you're only added once you confirm from the email we send. Lawful basis: consent.

Both are sent through Resend from news.earlyreadclub.com, which holds your email address, first name and the lists and genres you chose. We don't track opens or clicks.

You can withdraw consent at any time: from the link in any email, or by emailing hello@earlyreadclub.com.

When a reader ticks “Get [author]'s next books before anyone else”, or an author imports readers, that reader joins the author's own mailing list. The author is the controller of their list and decides how to use it, for example by exporting it to their own email tool. For these lists, we act as the author's processor: we store the list, its consent records and preferences on the author's behalf and only as they instruct through the app.

Authors are responsible for having a lawful basis for their lists, for honouring unsubscribes in any tool they export to, and for answering requests about how they use the list. Readers can leave an author's list from the preferences link in any of our emails; if the author has already exported the list, contact the author too.

We use these service providers. Each only processes data on our instructions, under a data processing agreement.

Where data leaves the UK, we rely on UK adequacy regulations (including the UK-US data bridge for certified US companies) or the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or Addendum [confirm the mechanism for each provider]. We don't sell personal data or use it for advertising.

• Ebooks: deleted from storage 60 days after a campaign closes. The author is warned 7 days before. The cover and campaign details stay so the closed page still works.
• Unused drafts: an untitled draft campaign with no ebook is deleted after 7 days.
• Author accounts: kept while the account is open. Deleting your account (Settings) cancels any subscription in Stripe first, then deletes your files and everything in your account: campaigns, applications to them, reviews, reminders, invites and your mailing list. Your old handle is held for 30 days so nobody else can take over your links, then released.
• Readers: kept while you have applications or are on a list. “Delete my data” (from any email) deletes you everywhere: your details, every author's list, our newsletter, your consent history, your emails and any applications for books you weren't sent. For a book you were sent, the application is anonymised instead: your name, email and link are removed, and any review link is blanked (a link can name you). Only the date it was sent, when the review was due and whether a review was shared on time remain, so the author's numbers stay correct without identifying you.
• When an author deletes their account: readers' records with us and our newsletter subscriptions stay (they're not the author's), and consent records stay with the author's name removed.
• Consent records: kept as long as the consent they prove is in use, so we can show what you agreed to [set a fixed period].
• Billing records: Stripe keeps payment records as the law requires; we keep our copy of your subscription status until you delete your account [check the period needed for tax records].
• Emails: a record of each email (recipient, type, status) is kept with the account or application it belongs to [set a fixed period].
• Logs: hosting and database logs are kept by Vercel and Supabase for their standard periods [confirm].

Under UK data protection law (the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018) you have the right to:

• get a copy of your data (access)
• have it corrected if it's wrong
• have it deleted
• restrict how we use it, or object to uses based on legitimate interests
• receive it in a machine-readable format (portability)
• withdraw consent at any time, without affecting what we did before

How to use them. Readers: use “Email preferences” or “Delete my data” at the bottom of any email from us. Authors: edit your details in Settings, export your mailing list as a CSV from your dashboard, or delete your account in Settings. Anyone can email hello@earlyreadclub.com. We'll reply within one month and may ask you to confirm it's you.

If your request is about an author's mailing list, we'll pass it to the author or help them deal with it, since they control that list.

Complaints. Please tell us first and we'll try to put it right. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK regulator: ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint or 0303 123 1113.

Data is encrypted in transit, ebooks sit in private storage and are only reachable through download links that expire after 10 minutes, and readers' private links are stored hashed and encrypted. Only the people who run Early Read Club can access the database, for support and maintenance.

Early Read Club is not meant for children. [Set a minimum age for authors and readers.]

We only use cookies the site needs to work. The cookie policy lists each one.

We'll update the date at the top when this policy changes, and email authors about significant changes before they take effect.